Ok sorry to mention Kangaroos again but....  I went for a longer run on Saturday as I try to do and on my merry way I came across a heap of roos, bounce bounce bounce, hmmm I started thinking about Erics description of running and how we are basically jumping (hope I have that right) Now roos are very graceful when they are going full swing and it looks effortless, their body is basically motionless and they just swing through with the legs, which optimises their energy retention (just like we need too).  So I thought this might be able to help me with getting my forefoot strike right with my visualisation.. Im a very visual person and it helps me....  With that I have researched and researched on roos and running, it has led to the following..

They use their tendons very well as a spring to help them move as we should, the diagram below shows the roo and human legs and feet

The roos exaggerated foot and leg (well from ours) shows what should be happening very clearly... bounce bounce bounce......  The other interesting point on the roo is that they are so efficient at sprinting that on a flat surface they use barely any extra energy to go full speed than they do at a slow sprint, the reason they do not always travel at close to maximum speed is to avoid high tendon stress (recent research has shown they also have more mitochondria and blood vessels in their muscle to assist them)  Dont worry though, the old roo does not cope any better with uphill stretches than us, so if your going to race one challenge it to a hilly route!

Then I tried to find a pic of human forefoot strike, now thats a challenge, especially for someone not in a full blown sprint and one that demonstrates (hopefully) the correct placement of the leg without over extension....  Its no wonder I didnt know heel striking was bad, the majority of things you see are all showing heel strike.....  I ending up finding this one:

Thanks little buddy I can picture you in my head very easily.... now all I need to do is keep practicing and keep trying to transition my technique. This is proving a challenge and I seriously think I spend more time thinking than running when Im running ha!  :)

please feel free to pull me up where I have things wrong!!!

Just for fun Ill include these bits and pieces I came accross:

This pic was about a robot being designed to move off a single spring

heres the robot

cheerio

545 the alarm goes off, out of bed sneaking around so i dont wake the little one, lots of water, shave, get changed into my gear, shorts and a merino tshirt for the current chilly mornings and a beanie for the first 1/2k or so, pat the dogs on the way out and then crunch crunch on the gravel under starlight as I walk out to our gravel rd, Mudlarks calling and a couple of magpies somewhere out in the way yonder... My eyes are getting accustomed to the dark and I quickly walk to a tree that marks my starting point... stars look good this morning, no moon... and off I go "crunch crunch crunch"  Love it.  Currently Im thinking about how Im running as well as my normal running daydreams of whatever is going on in life, interspersed with ridiculous ideas of wild animals that dont and cannot exist eating me, Im in australia for goodness sakes, only have to worry about snakes if its hot... leaving the wild animals behind i get absorbed by my run, round the corner, kookaburras laughing this morning, how fantastic.... theres a slight orange tinge to the horizon now and the light is slowly increasing, i turn onto the dirt track run up to the railway line, and continue now on my way back, maybe ill think a bit about the slight uphill, maybe not, but generally ill forget it quickly thinking of my goals for the year, "crunch crunch crunch" go my feet, maybe ill see a roo, often im lucky enough to have one hop along a fence line for a while... getting to the end of my 5ks i find myself going faster and wondering how my time is going... I get to the trees that mark the end of my run and slow to a walk, glance at my watch swearing ill take proper notice of the time i started running tomorrow which I never seem to do, run seems to be getting easier though and Im pretty sure Ive knocked nearly 5mins off since i started again late last year... Looks like its going to be a nice day, I wonder how many people dont know or can appreciate the beauty of the night and dawn skies.....   time for my coffee a change and off to work....  Ill try for a longer 'long run' this weekend as things are feeling good, looking forward to my run tomorrow....